National City, CA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Chapter 10.24 of the National City Municipal Code is titled Loitering for Drug Activities, and section 10.24.010 is the operative prohibition. It makes it unlawful to loiter in, on or near any thoroughfare or place open to the public, or near any public or private place, in a manner and under circumstances manifesting the purpose of engaging in drug-related activity defined as offenses in Chapters 6 and 6.5 of Division 10 of the California Health and Safety Code. Loitering alone is not the offense; the code ties it to a manifested purpose.

Section 10.24.020 lists the circumstances that can be considered in deciding whether a person manifests that purpose. They include being a known unlawful drug user, possessor or seller (a person convicted of a listed violation, a person displaying physical characteristics of drug intoxication or usage such as needle tracks, or a person possessing drug paraphernalia); being subject to an order prohibiting presence in a high drug activity geographic area; behaving in a way that raises a reasonable suspicion, for example acting as a lookout; being identified by an officer as a member of a gang or association whose purpose is illegal drug activity; transferring small objects or packages for currency in a furtive fashion; taking flight upon the appearance of a police officer; trying to conceal oneself or an object; being in an area known for unlawful drug use and trafficking; being on premises reported to law enforcement as suspected of drug activity; and being in or within six feet of a vehicle registered to a known drug user, possessor or seller, or to a person with an outstanding warrant for a drug-related crime.

Two other parts of the code deal with standing and obstruction rather than drug purpose. Section 11.44.050 bars stopping or standing on a public sidewalk in any commercial zone between seven a.m. and ten p.m. except as near as reasonably possible to an adjacent building or curb line, and bars sitting or lying down there in the same hours. Exceptions cover medical emergencies, wheelchair and walker users, permitted events and sidewalk businesses, public-agency or owner-supplied benches, and bus stops, and no one can be cited unless the conduct continues after a police officer gives notice. Section 10.50.010 makes it unlawful to obstruct any public street, road, alley, highway, bridge, wharf or sidewalk, or render it inconvenient or dangerous to pass.